18 de janeiro de 2012

Power generation is blowing in the wind

Wind turbines can produce different amount of power due to different "shapes" in the wind. 
Photos by Jacqueline McBride/LLNL

Power generated by a wind turbine largely depends on the wind speed. In a wind farm in which the turbines experience the same wind speeds but different shapes (such as turbulence) to the wind profile, a turbine will produce different amounts of power.

And this variable power can be predicted by looking at atmospheric stability, according to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientist Sonia Wharton and colleague Julie Lundquist of the University of Colorado at Boulder and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

The team found that power generated at a set wind speed is higher under stable conditions and lower under strongly unsteady conditions at that location. The average wind power output difference is as high as 15 percent less wind power generation when the atmosphere is unstable.

While turbulence is a relatively well-known term in assessing turbine efficiency, wind shear -- which is a difference in wind speed and direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere -- also plays an important role when assessing how much power a turbine generates over certain time scales.

More, about POWER and STABILITY here

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